Trailers for use in hauling items ranging from lawn equipment, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, personal watercraft, to household goods and the like come in a variety of shapes and sizes. All of these trailers, however, generally have the same basic configuration of a trailer bed connected to a frame. An elongate tongue extends from one end of the frame, and a wheeled axle is connected to the frame under the trailer bed. The elongate tongue is supported at its end through a connection to the vehicle towing the trailer.
One common problem owners of trailers have is their storage. Even small trailers which are designed for towing motorcycles, lawn equipment, boats or the like may be ten to twenty feet or more in length. For a normal homeowner, the length of the trailer may prohibit storage of the trailer in the garage, or at least will force him to displace his car from the stall of the garage where he parks the trailer. If the owner does not wish to do this, he must park the trailer outside alongside his house or pay for commercial storage of it.
Another problem associated with trailers is apparent during their use. Because the trailer bed is positioned on the frame over the axles, the trailer bed is some distance off of the ground. As a result, it is often difficult to get items from the ground onto the trailer bed or from the trailer bed to the ground.
Most commonly, the user either lifts the item onto or off of the trailer bed or extends one or more ramps between the ground and the trailer bed and slides or rolls the item up or down the ramp. If the item is extremely heavy, lifting the item is often not an option. On the other hand, the use of ramps is inconvenient. First, the user must have ramps available. Second, the use of the ramps normally requires the trailer to be located on a flat section of ground. When the trailer is to be moved with the item on it, the user must also transport the ramps to the new destination for their use in unloading the item.
A trailer which is conveniently stored when not in use and which is adapted for easy loading and unloading is desired.